When he was a freshman, Khaseem Greene noticed the defensive statistics from the season before and marveled at the triple-digit number besides Courtney Greene’s tackle total.

“I remember Courtney (had 101 tackles in 2007),” said Greene, who today was rewarded for his 17-tackle effort against USF by being named Big East Defensive Player of the Week. “I hoped that one day I could break Courtney’s record for tackles as a safety.”

Greene is playing the weakside linebacker spot now — a position switch that has greatly benefitted both he and Rutgers’ defense this fall — but the fourth-year junior is still approaching rarified air for single-season tackles.

“I didn’t notice I had 92 tackles,” said Greene, who leads the Big East with 10.2 tackles per game through Rutgers’ 6-3 start. “That’s a lot of tackles. I’m just going to keep playing within the framework of the defense, doing my job, and hopefully I’ll get more than 117.”

That was the gaudy total Greene recorded as a senior at Elizabeth High, when he posted 117 stops in leading the Minutemen to the 2006 NJSIAA North II Group IV championship. With three more regular-season games starting with this Saturday’s affair against Army at Yankee Stadium and a likely bowl appearance, Greene is on pace to record more than 130 tackles and crack Rutgers’ top-10 for single-season tackles.

To put that achievement in perspective, only four players in 11th-year coach Greg Schiano’s tenure have reached the 100-tackle plateau — Gary Brackett recorded 130 in 2002, Courtney Greene did it twice (including 116 in 2005), Kevin Malast had 101 in 2008 and Antonio Lowery totaled 108 last year.

As for the player simply known as ‘Khas’ around Rutgers, the 6-1, 220-pounder is posting the kind of statistics that will undoubtedly place him on the short list for Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors by season’s end.

“Khas has had a productive year,” Schiano said. “He’s making plays all over the place.”

His 17 tackles in Saturday’s 20-17 overtime win over USF was the most by a Big East player in a game this season and the most by a Rutgers player since Lowery totaled 19 against Army last fall.

“Those numbers are a reflection of the defense and not just me,” said Greene, who also ranks 12th in the Big East with nine tackles-for-loss and eighth with two fumbles forced. “That’s the one thing about the rewards that it never shows. Sometimes I’m just in the right place to make tackles. I really appreciate it, and very happy about the award, but that’s all a credit to the defensive line and the secondary.”